People are shoplifting at Apple Stores with EasyPay and I tried it out. I’ve actually wanted to do it for a long time. Shoplift? Nope – use EasyPay in the Apple Store app to scan the barcode on a product and pay with my phone only to then leave the Apple Store without interacting with a store employee.

I did it yesterday, it worked perfectly and no, I’m not writing from prison. Apparently, though, faking it works until you get caught which is why former NBA player Rex Chapmen was arrested last week with charges of shoplifting more than $14,000 of merchandise in visits to the Apple Store where he apparently faked purchasing with EasyPay. This is one instance where fake it until you make it just didn’t work out as planned.

Having heard about Chapman before my store visit, I wondered if there is some sort of security in place, particularly for large ticket items. I went for the $199 Phillips Hue Connected Bulb Starter Pack. The experience is actually easy. Scan the code, enter the Apple ID password, confirm the credit card security code and the receipt was displayed on screen.

My thoughts were that at $200 price point, once it is scanned by the app, a store employee might be notified to come and assist as not everything can be purchased with EasyPay. I wouldn’t find a friendly greeting creepy in the least. Why?

Apple knows I am in store when I arrive. They even warmly welcomed me to the store with their app. How did they know? Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) beacons. Using multiple beacons in store and triangulation, we’re talking about high school math and not rocket science, Apple knows exactly where I am in the store while I’m there. It would possible for a store employee to get an alert, walk over and say something like, “Thanks Mr. Bradshaw for purchasing Phillips Hue with EasyPay; would you like a bag?”

It didn’t happen and in reality it doesn’t need to happen. This sort of technology should actually make it easier to get in and out of store and also reduce labor costs for Apple, among other benefits of BTLE. Of course there are costs of adoption and there will undoubtedly be things put in place to work the kinks out that Chapman attempted to capitalize on. I would’t be surprised, though, if BTLE is something that made it easier to find when Chapman had been in store so the right segments of security tape could be reviewed to find what he had taken.

Along with improvements to prevent theft, I’d like to see Apple’s cart be a bit more contextually aware. Notice there is one item still in my cart after purchase. I had placed the Hue kit in the cart before going to the store and then had to manually delete it. Maybe the welcome message in the app when I walk in the store could be, “Welcome to Apple Store! The X in your cart is strait ahead to your left.”

It would be an understatement to describe the VLAB event team journey as rigorous and rewarding. The team? VLAB volunteers. The topic? Deep. The result? Learning…by all attendees from a superb panel. #VLABdl

A special shout out goes to the event co-chairs Jeff Stevens and Shane Gu as well as my fellow team members Adwoa Boakye, Natalia Erokhina, Priyan Guneratne, Fred Stein, Alexander van Dijk and Wolfram Willuhn. Countless hours were spent researching, screening panelists and coordinating what seemed like a never-ending list of tasks to ultimately construct the panel that so eloquently addressed the topic for the sell-out VLAB audience. As lead for marketing and demo exhibits, I must remind everyone it takes a team to sell out an event. Thank you to all who answered the clarion call to action to support event marketing.

Apple Watch does not get a perfect score on the WorkTechWork Wearable Predictions that were made in March. Read on to find out why. Each prediction is listed, with comments on Apple Watch and a link to more details from the recent industry watch.

1) Wearables of the future will be more than fad devices; they will satisfy customer needs.

SCORE! Apple Watch goes beyond tracking fitness and is more than a fad device. “The list of features is a mile long,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said when introducing Apple Watch. While not all of these features have been shared with the public, many of the features will satisfy real customer needs. There is no doubt Apple understands wearable technology should enrich the lives and health of people and make a difference, a difference from technology working for people.

3) Companies that combine the information of multiple sensors in multiple wearable devices will create more value for their consumers than producers of single wearable devices.

SCORE! Apple Watch combines the information from sensors in the watch and sensors in the iPhone to create Wearable Alpha, value above the value a customer receives based on the use of just the watch or just the phone.

4) Wearables will become more intelligent because of developments in sensor technology and the ability to translate data from these sensors into insight via analytics.

SCORE! The Apple Watch uses an accelerometer and gyroscope along with optical sensors that use both visible and infrared light. No other wearable in the market does this. Through the HealthKit integration Apple and app developers will be able to leverage analytics to derive insights.

5) The cost of sensors will continue to go down, thus enabling more uses and innovation with sensors in wearable devices.

TBD: $349 is where pricing starts for the Apple Watch. There is always a premium for Apple products, especially when they are new. For now we have to wait to see what happens over time with both the price of the Apple Watch and the costs for the sensors inside. Bluetooth, NFC and other sensor technologies in the watch have come down in recent years but the focus of the prediction is to look into the future, seeing the costs going down.

TBD: The jury is out still because Apple has not released specifics on the battery for the Apple Watch. This prediction has two components, energy storage and energy consumption.

The storage question status is TBD but it will be answered soon enough (the battery will probably not benefit from 300% increased capacity from the battery life “Holy Grail” mentioned in the Industry Watch, but we can hope, right?).

Lower energy consumption comes through design, software and functionality that is wearable specific. Apple did not shrink an iPhone and put a watch band on it; Apple Watch was designed as a wearable. But, before I can really give Apple Watch a pass on this aspect, I need to get my hands on one and see how good the battery stands up after several full days of use.

7) People are going to use wearable technology to make a statement about who they are.

SCORE! From Apple.com: “There is an Apple Watch for everyone.” With three different collections and multiple bands, Apple Watch provides smart watch shoppers with more options for customizing their smart watch than all of the existing smart watches on the market combined. These options along with the millions of appearances possible for the digital face earn Apple Watch a coveted place as the leader in fashionable wearable products.

8) People are going to use undetectable wearable technology by using wearable ultra-sensitive micro sensors, sensors smaller and more sensitive than the innovative seat belt microphone in Audi’s R8 Spyder that enables clear cell phone conversation with the top down at lightning speeds.

N/A – There could be ultra-sensitive micro sensors inside that we are not aware of yet but if you have the Apple Watch on, people are going to see it.

9) The debate around ownership of wearables-generated data will continue.

SCORE! Because the Apple Watch generates data and it integrates with Apple Pay, people are already asking tough questions about data security and privacy. Apple, however, stands firm that it is in the hardware, not the data business. As Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Charlie Rose last night, “I think people have a right to privacy. I think that’s going to be a very key topic over the next year or so, and we’ll reach higher and higher levels of urgency as more and more incidents happen.”

10) Contextual awareness will be enabled by wearable device adoption and become the next big thing in marketing and customer experience.

SCORE! The Apple Watch is itself contextually aware; it knows when it is on or off your wrist or when your wrist is turned towards you to look at the watch face. There will, no doubt, be the opportunity for apps and services to be developed that are aimed at enriching customer experiences.